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Drone ban over industrial plants passes Louisiana Senate

Dan Claitor drone.jpg

Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, pitches his bill to a Louisiana House committee to prohibit operators of unmanned aircrafts, known as drones, from taking and distributing photographs of private property. He said he purchased the drone for less than $400 at Brookstone. Teh Senate passed similar legislation Monday, May 19, 2014, banning drones over certain industrial infrastructure. (Emily Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Flying a drone over chemical or nuclear plant could earn Louisiana residents up to six months in jail and a $500 fine if a bill that sailed through the state Senate Monday (May 19) becomes law.

Two attempts to pass drone regulations this Legislative session appeared to be doomed when they hit a wall in the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee earlier this month, but the measure got revived last week in the form of an amendment to an unrelated bill.

The original version of the regulations that passed Monday were contained in a bill sponsored by Sen. Bodi White, R-Baton Rouge, at the behest of the Louisiana Chemical Association. That version outlawed drones over pipelines, water systems, industrial plants and other "critical infrastructure." Drones owned by news crews and environmental groups, witnesses pointed out, would be prevented from monitoring possible oil spills or other disasters under that legislation -- an aspect the committee agreed went too far.

The amendment tacked onto the laser legislation, though, narrows the scope to outlaw drones from flying over without permission and the intent to conduct surveiliance of the following infrastructure: 1) nuclear plants; 2) chemical plants 3) chemical refineries. Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, who sat on the House committee, said he allowed the drone regulations to hitch a ride on his laser bill since the scope was narrowed.

Penalties for a second offense of the prospective drone crime carry up to a year in prison and a $2,000 fine.

The other sponsor of drone regulations, Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, has been the most vocal proponent for drone regulation. He arrived at the House committee debate with an approximately $400 drone he got from Brookstone to demonstrate how he easily spied on lobbyists outside the Capitol in an attempt to convince members the new technology presents privacy issues and addresses unwanted government intrusion. The committee, though, apparently didn't buy it and killed the bill.

"Do you want to give your privacy rights? That's fine if you believe the government is beneficent," he said on the Senate floor during his second try at pitching his DRONE Act. "I think the government should stay out of my backyard without probable cause or a search warrant."

The regulations that passed Monday, however, make a specific exception to the law for drones operated by federal, state or local government agencies. An amendment offered Monday by Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, also exempts the film industry from following the drone regulations.

Landry's original bill creates a criminal charge in Louisiana for pointing lasers at aircrafts, the penalty of which is between one and five years in prison and a fine of $2,000. Second offenses incur prison time between two and ten years and a fine of $4,000. A federal charge for the same act already exists, but Baton Rouge Police Department officials said a state measure was necessary to let them enforce it more efficiently.

Shining lasers at aircrafts can be dangerous because the laser beam spreads out and illuminates entire cockpits. In 2013 there were nearly 4,000 incidents in the United States of people on the ground shining lasers at aircrafts, some of them causing permanent damage to pilots' eyes and distracting them in such a way that threatens those on board and on the ground.